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In 90 secs: What's driving the day

Reid and his leadership team are assessing how Obama’s proposed administrative fix to allow individuals to keep canceled insurance plans for one year plays in GOP-friendly states like Louisiana, Arkansas and North Carolina — where key Democratic incumbents are up for reelection next year, leadership aides said. The hope is that the fix may blunt a recent nose dive in public approval of Obamacare.

And the White House is also promising that the enrollment website — HealthCare.gov — will be largely rid of problems by Nov. 30.

If those things happen, Reid may ultimately be able to hold off his party from piling on and clashing with the president. The White House had no such luck in the GOP-controlled House, where 39 Democratic lawmakers voted last week for a bill to allow insurers to keep selling existing health care plans. But if it’s clear vulnerable Democrats need cover from the health reform program’s rough launch, the party will try to coalesce around one of the many bills now submitted by Democrats to alter various portions of the law, leadership sources said.

“We’re moving pretty rapidly,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), whose bill to fix the canceled plans issue has gained the most traction among Democrats. “This promise must be kept, and we’re working out the details.”

Despite the law’s messy rollout and flagging public support, Reid and Senate Democrats have no immediate plans to cross the White House and vote on legislative fixes. There’s still a year until the 2014 elections and Reid is waiting out the troubles — for now.

Reid’s position is tricky — as the leader of Senate Democrats, he wants to retain control of the chamber and protect vulnerable incumbents, many of whom have introduced their own Obamacare fixes. But he is also a close ally to President Barack Obama whom the White House is counting on to help contain the damage.

But some Democratic senators are getting antsy.

Take Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has written legislation with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) that would delay the penalty associated with the individual mandate for one year. He has also signed on to Landrieu’s bill and, when asked recently if he was getting frustrated with not getting a vote on either, he responded: “What do you mean, ‘starting’?”

“As they see this thing unraveling, [the White House and Senate leaders have] got to look for some ways to make it work. Everybody has to,” Manchin said. “You sit back and wait for the White House? I’m sure they’ve got their hands full right now, but someone’s got to take a leadership role here.”

Even though a Washington Post poll on Tuesday showed that continued support for Obamacare may hurt congressional candidates, there is no timetable for deciding when to hit the panic button, said Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat and up for reelection himself.

“We don’t have any plan,” Durbin said of scheduling Obamacare votes.

Still, Reid is monitoring the situation closely. When Obama was getting ready to unveil the administrative fix last week, much of Congress was blindsided with the details behind his proposal. But Reid personally had been briefed: He spoke to Obama during a “long” phone conversation two days before, much of that talk centering on